NOTE: The Senior Close-Up is a frequent feature on the Bard Athletics web site, with the focus being the life of a student-athlete at Bard. Here, every student must complete a Senior Project to graduate. The Senior Project is an original, individual, focused project growing out of the student’s cumulative academic experiences. Preparation begins in the junior year, and one course each semester in the senior year is devoted entirely to the Senior Project. The student submits the completed project to a committee of three professors and participates with them in a Senior Project Review.
By Jim Sheahan
Bard College Sports Information Director
Marissa Papatola didn’t leave Minnesota for Bard College because she thought the weather would be nicer.
She grew up in a family with a passion for music. Her father, Tim, was a classically trained singer, and her mother, Kathy, was involved in musical theater through high school and college.
Now a senior at Bard, Papatola is a classically trained singer with experience in musical theater.
She’s also a double-major – music and political studies – because her practical side told her to create as many opportunities for jobs as possible upon graduation. That graduation is right around the corner.
“I always had a lot of support from my parents,” Papatola said. “Now that I’m graduating, any job in music likely won’t be in performing, it might be stage managing or something like that. But I’m also looking at jobs that are mostly political studies-related, like community outreach, human rights and community relations.”
Not to say that Papatola has given up on the idea of being paid to perform. It would be a dream come true. She’s already decided that she is going to return to St. Paul, Minn., when she graduates, get an apartment, hire a voice teacher, a vocal coach and possibly an acting coach. At the same time, she’s applying for jobs in international relations, fund development and communications – because she’s going to have to pay bills while she pursues her dream.
It makes her decision to be a double-major look pretty intelligent. Unless, of course, you realize that all double-majors at Bard have to complete two completely separate senior projects.
“I don’t know how I’ve made this work academically,” said Papatola, who has been a member of the women’s basketball team for four years. “I do vaguely recall there was a time when I didn’t sleep for about three days. But in high school, I had always been involved in a lot of activities. I’m always accustomed to juggling five millions different things and it didn’t seem weird to continue to do it here.”
Out of the 11 schools she applied to out of high school, nine were in the Northeast. She decided after visits to Boston University and Boston College that she wanted a smaller environment.
“I liked Bard from the beginning even before I got here for the first time,” Papatola said. “I wanted to cultivate relationships with my professors, I liked the campus, and they had an immediate decision process.”
She has flourished in the academic environment. In January of her freshman year, she studied abroad – in Italy. In her junior year, she participated in the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program in New York City, which gave her a lot of material for the political studies aspect of her senior project.
On the musical side, the senior project must include two shows. Last semester she did a concert with six classical pieces and four musical theater pieces; this semester she’s planning something more along of the lines of “Cabaret.”
She has about 70 pages done for her political studies senior project, much of it compiled during her junior year.
“It’s not like I’m overwhelmed with research right now,” Papatola said. “At Bard, it’s almost impossible to fail. The professors are so helpful; I have a great academic advisor and a great voice teacher. They’ve helped me pick my classes carefully.
“In that respect, it’s made my academic life a lot easier. I also have a good secret. I didn’t always participate in class, which is something a lot of professors want to see. But I would always sit close to the professor, make eye contact … and develop relationships with the professors so even though you might not be the type of kid who likes to talk a lot in class … you are participating.”
Papatola has been singing the national anthem before basketball games, but her basketball career is over. Perhaps her next gig will involve monetary compensation for her musical gifts.
“I’m a little sad, but I’m ready,” Papatola said of leaving Bard. “Part of me feels like I was a freshman yesterday. It does go by so fast.
“Another part of me can’t believe how much I’ve gone through,” she added, pointing out that her father passed away during her sophomore year. “Almost on a daily basis now I think about how much things have changed since my freshman year. I think about the people who work here, the friends I’ve had who’ve already graduated. I would always say, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do.’ But something always works out.”
